French roast has been around since the late 19th century, when it was first introduced by French chefs as an alternative to American-style drip brewing.
Today, French roast still remains one of the most popular roasts available.
What Kind Of Roast Do You Use For French Roast?
You can find many different types of French roast recipes online, but they all have several common attributes that set them apart from other roasting methods.
Typically, French roast recipes use medium or coarse grind coffees with dark chocolatey notes, such as those found in Valrhona cocoa powder.
The best French roast recipes will also include at least some vanilla bean (or vanilla extract), which adds a subtle sweetness to your brew.
Other traditional flavors like cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom might be present too, depending on how much flavor you prefer in your coffee.
Finally, French roast recipes often call for a combination of both whole beans and ground coffee, giving you more control over the final flavor profile of your beverage than any single method would allow.
To start off, let’s take a look at what makes up a French roast blend.
- Medium Grind Coffee – A French roast is typically made using a fine grind coffee, meaning that the particles are less than 1/4 inch (6 mm) across.
- This type of grind allows the heat of the roaster to penetrate deep into the grounds without burning them, resulting in a darker brown color on the outside of the beans.
- Dark Chocolatey Notes – As mentioned above, French roast uses a medium to coarse grind so that the roasted beans contain a lot of surface area.
- When these larger pieces of coffee are exposed to intense heat during the roasting process, they develop a unique dark chocolate aroma and taste thanks to caramelization reactions taking place within the bean itself.
- Vanilla Flavor – The addition of vanillas gives French roast its distinctive sweet note.
- Vanilla beans add a smooth, almost buttery quality to your cup of joe, making it very similar to iced milk tea.
- If you don’t want to go this route, you can always try adding vanilla extract instead.
- Cinnamon, Cardamom & Nutmeg Flavors – These spices aren’t just used for their culinary qualities — they’re also added to French Roast blends because of their robust flavor profiles.
- Cinnamon not only brings out the sweetness in French roast, but also helps create a warming effect, while cardamom and nutmeg add spice and warmth to your drink.
- Ground Coffee – Ground coffee isn’t necessary for every French roast recipe, but it does give you more options for controlling the final flavor profile of your coffee.
- You can either use fresh ground espresso beans, or preground coffee that’s been milled down to the right size.
Now that we know the basics about what goes into French roast, let’s see if we can come up with our own version!
What Are The Typical Ingredients In A French Roast Recipe?
A French roast uses whole beans that are roasted using indirect heat.
The result is a dark brown bean with a complex flavor profile that includes notes of chocolate, caramel, and nutmeg.
There’s also a hint of smoke from the oak barrels used to age the coffee.
There are two types of French roast: light and medium.
Light French roast coffees come out of the barrel lighter than their medium counterparts.
The lightest roast, known as Blonde or Bordeaux, is made with green or yellowish-green (or golden) coffee cherries.
Medium French roasts have darker colors like orange or red, but they also contain both green and yellow-brown (or amber) cherries.
The main difference between them comes down to how much sugar is added during processing.
A light roast contains less than 20% moisture while a medium roast can be up to 25%.
This recipe makes use of French press filters, which means that there are no grounds left behind after extraction.
These filters require hot water to extract all the flavors from the coffee.
If you don’t have a french press filter handy, you can brew this French roast using your favorite pour over method instead.
Just remember not to fill your pitcher more than halfway full because you want to leave room at the top for steam to escape.
Pour about 1/3 of the water into the pitcher before adding the coffee grinds, then slowly add the rest of the water until it reaches the brim.
You may need to adjust the amount of grind size depending on whether you prefer a coarse or fine grind.
If the coffee tends to clump together when it cools, break apart any large chunks using a spoon or spatula to ensure even distribution throughout the pot.
As always, start off with cold water.
Once the brew starts steaming, cover the pitcher tightly and set aside to steep overnight.
In the morning, strain through a paper towel or cheesecloth bag and discard the remaining grounds.
Now let’s take a look at some other common French roast recipes.
How Do You Cook French Roast?
There are several different ways that you can prepare this delicious coffee beverage.
One method involves boiling hot water over high heat until it reaches 212 degrees Fahrenheit (100 Celsius).
Once the water comes up to temperature, pour it into your french press or other coffee maker with ground coffee beans inside.
Let the water steep for about 10 minutes, then remove the french press/coffee maker from the pot of steeping liquid.
Next, add milk, sugar, vanilla extract, and cinnamon to the brew.
Pour the mixture back into the pot where you heated the water and let the mixture steep for another 5 minutes before serving.
What Is The Best Way To Serve French Roast?
The ideal method for serving this type of coffee involves using a french press or other similar device that allows you to infuse your coffee in hot water.
The hot water adds flavor, but also helps create a smooth body.
You can then either pour the brew into a mug or use a french press to strain out excess grounds from the liquid.
Once the coffee has cooled down, you’ll notice its distinctive aroma and taste.
It will be very dark brown in color, which makes it easier to distinguish from a regular black coffee.
French roast tends to have more acidity than a typical black coffee, making it slightly sweeter than your average cup.
If you like your coffee strong, try adding milk to the brew before drinking.
What Are Some Common Side Dishes To Serve With French Roast?
When you think about French roast, what comes to mind?
A dark brown color and strong aroma that’s sure to wake up your senses at any time of day or night.
These two characteristics make French roast very versatile in terms of how it can be used.
For example, if you’re preparing this French roast recipe for yourself (or someone else), then you might want to consider serving it alongside something like roasted potatoes or even grilled chicken breast.
This recipe is also great served on its own, but the combination of flavors will definitely enhance the taste!
If you would rather avoid cooking anything during meal prep, then try pairing French roast with a bowl of fresh fruit instead.
- Roasted Potatoes – These sweet little morsels are delicious on their own or paired with fish, meat, or poultry.
- Grilled Chicken Breast – Grilling is always the best option when it comes to getting juicy results from your protein source.
- Fresh Fruit – Try serving French roast with apples, pears, bananas, grapes, strawberries, peaches, plums, and more.
What Are Some Tips For Making The Perfect French Roast?
There are several ways to brew this type of coffee.
If you want to use ground beans in your French roast, then you can simply add them directly into the water or use preground coffee in an automatic grinder.
However, if you prefer whole bean grinders, they work just fine.
- Brewing french roast at home is very straightforward.
- You’ll need hot water (not boiling) and ground or pre-ground coffee.
- The standard ratio is 1 tablespoon of ground coffee per 8 ounces of water.
- For best results, use fresh grounds that have not been sitting too long before being brewed.
- To keep the coffee from getting bitter after adding the hot water, let it cool slightly before pouring over the coffee.
- Once the coffee is cooled down, pour in the water slowly while stirring constantly until all the grounds are fully saturated.
- Start off slow to avoid burning yourself on the stovetop!
- After about 3 to 5 minutes, check the color.
- When it turns light brown, it’s done! Remove the pan from heat and allow the coffee to sit for another minute to complete its “fixing time.”
- The French roast will continue to absorb moisture from the air, so once it’s ready, don’t leave it alone.
- Stir again every 30 seconds to prevent it from drying out.
- If you like your coffee darker than medium dark, you may want to increase the amount of ground coffee used.
- A good rule of thumb is half a teaspoon more each time you double the quantity of ground coffee.
What Is Your Favorite French Roast Recipe?
To get started on creating your own French roast, here’s what you need:
- 1/4 Cup (60ml) of instant coffee ground into powder
- 5 Cups (1250 ml)
For this French roast recipe, we will be using a french press or filter coffee maker because these devices allow us to brew in water at low heat rather than hot steam that would damage our beans.
This particular type of French press also allows for more control over how much pressure we apply during extraction.
In addition, they can be used with any kind of coffee grounds, including espresso grinds.
You may notice that I am not adding any sugar to my coffee.
That is intentional! If you want to add extra sweetness, try mixing 1 teaspoon of brown sugar into your French roast before serving.
However, if you prefer your drinks less sweet, feel free to omit the sugar altogether.
If you aren’t sure about which brand of French press you should buy, keep reading for my recommendations below.
Now that you have all of your materials prepared, let’s begin.
How Do You Like To Eat French Roast?
If you’re looking for a great French roast recipe that’s quick and easy to brew, then this is the one for you!
You can use this French roast recipe for making either a single or double batch of French roast.
- Single batch: 2 ounces (56 grams) of ground coffee beans per 6-8 ounce pot (240 – 320 ml)
- Double batch: 4 ounces (113 grams) of ground coffee beans per 12-16 ounce pot (480 – 640 ml)
The Best French Roast Recipe Ever!
This classic French roast recipe makes a delicious, creamy cup of coffee with just four main ingredients — roasted whole coffee beans, water, sugar, and cream.
The process is super simple too.
All you have to do is grind up the coffee beans into fine particles, add them to a preheated pot, and mix in enough hot water to cover the grounds completely.
Then, stir in the cream until everything is combined well.
After all those steps, just let the mixture sit for at least five minutes before straining out any remaining grounds.
If you want to keep the coffee warm longer than that, simply pour it back into the pot and reheat gently over medium heat.
Once you’ve finished preparing your French roast, feel free to drink it right away if you’d like.
However, we recommend allowing the coffee to cool down slightly so that it doesn’t burn your mouth.
This will also give you time to savor every last drop of its flavor.
Now, what about that French roast taste? Is it worth getting excited about? Read on to find out!
What Are Some Other Ways To Prepare French Roast?
While there are many different types of French roast that exist today, they all fall under this general category.
The basic premise behind any French roast is that you will be using a combination of ground beans (coarsely ground), water, and sugar in order to achieve the desired flavor profile.
There are numerous ways to go about preparing French roast, but here are three common methods:
- Slow Cooked Method: In this method, whole beans and/or coarsely ground beans are placed into a pot with water and allowed to simmer for several hours or overnight until the mixture becomes thick and creamy.
- Once prepared, the French roast can be used immediately, or refrigerated for up to two weeks before use.
- Instant Coffee: Instant coffee is another option for those who want their French roast ready now.
- You simply grind enough coarsely ground beans into a fine powder and then add hot water.
- After mixing thoroughly, let sit for five minutes before serving, at which point the coffee should have fully dissolved and achieved its full flavor potential.
- Drip Brew Method: Drip brew uses a special type of filter called “Kettle” that allows the grounds and water to pass through the filter slowly over time.
- When done properly, this results in a very smooth taste experience.
- However, if you don’t know how to correctly perform this technique, your French roast may end up tasting more bitter than intended.
In addition to these preparation techniques, there are also other factors that affect the final outcome of your French roast.
These include the temperature of the water, the amount of water used, the length of time the French roast is brewed, and even the bean variety itself.
What Are Some Of Your Favorite French Roast Dishes?
As I mentioned above, French roast can be found in just about any grocery store or restaurant that sells specialty coffees.
But what makes this particular roast so special? Here’s how you can find out!
The flavor profile for French roast differs from all other types of roasted beans.
The main difference between French roast and its competitors is that French roast tends to have more body than the others do.
This is because french roast is made with larger beans that are ground into powder form before being brewed.
As such, French roast typically contains less acidity than regular drip brews, but more caffeine than espresso blends.
Because of these factors, the taste of French roast isn’t quite as intense as many people might expect on first glance.
However, if you like bold flavors, then French roast may not be the right choice for you.
If you prefer your coffee milder, stick with drip brew instead.
Either way, we hope that you enjoy our French roast recipe below!
Equipment
- 1 Coffee Grinder
- 1 Glass
Ingredients
- 2 cups Filtered Water
- ¼ cup Roasted Coffee
Instructions
- Using a coffee grinder, coarsely grind the whole, roasted coffee beans (not fine grind as that can block the coffee filter and cause pressure in the French press).
- Water is brought to a boil, then allowed to stand for two minutes.
- Pour the boiling water over the freshly ground coffee after adding it to the press. Give it a short stir with a pastic spoon, then cover it with the lid without pressing the plunger down.
- Give the coffee 4 minutes to brew (if you like lighter coffee do a minute less, for stronger coffee do 5-6 minutes).
- Pour the coffee into the cups while gently depressing the plunger.
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Nutrition
My blog is all about creating delicious meals with ingredients that are easy to find in your local grocery store. I’m passionate about making yummy meals that I can share with my friends and family.